China to curb disorderly growth of coal industry

BEIJING--China plans to accelerate reform of its coal industry, shutting smaller mines to consolidate domestic production and experimenting with tariff levels to encourage higher-quality imports, the State Council said in a draft proposal published Thursday on the central government's website.

Citing falling coal prices and industry losses, China's equivalent to a cabinet said it aimed to "curb the disorderly growth of coal production."

It said it would stop construction of new coal mines with less than 300,000 metric tons of annual output and gradually eliminate coal mines producing 90,000 tons or less a year.

It would continue to shut unsafe coal mines and investigate mines that were illegally built or illegally exceeded approved dimensions.

The government will also increase the punishment for those caught flouting the rules, though it said precise punishments would only be announced at a later date.

It would also explore differentiating coal tariffs to encourage the import of high-quality coal and ban coal imports with high ash and sulfur content, it said.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.